Dystopian fantasy?

[Finchbearer]

Has anyone or does anyone write in this genre?

I come up with a lot of ideas, just seeds of ideas, but I like the idea of writing a dystopian fantasy story at some point.

I suppose I’m interested in cults and collective behaviour, and how this affects individuals, and to explore this in a fantasy setting would be interesting.

 

[Super Fantasy]

Im writing one currently.

 

[Finchbearer]

Im writing one currently.

Can I ask what the setting is?

 

[Super Fantasy]

A fantasy land where cults rule the kingdom that they revolted against years ago and won the war against the kingdom.

 

[pmmg]

Sadly, I am not writing a dystopia, but I do like them. I've read more than a few, and could see myself being interested enough to write one.

There are many tales I could point to that are dystopian. I think, personally, I would have the hardest time with cults though, cause I would have to believe they kept their cultish stuff, and got in charge, and stayed in charge. (or I suppose, I would accept a lose definition of cult, cause everything is a cult of a sort).

But there are many examples in fantasy, and fiction to point to. Too many to list, I think.

What would you want to know about them?

 

[Finchbearer]

I’ve read quite a few non-fiction books that have been first hand accounts of what it was like living in a cult, and wanted to bring this style into a fantasy story.

 

[pmmg]

I can see living in a cult, or a commune, or a religious sect, but not it catching on to take over the nation....but then, there was the Ayatollah. Meh, I think I'd have to be sold. I suppose, I would accept it as a given and just go with the story. Sometimes, you just have to do that. I think underworld was dystopian, and I did not question vampires too much.

 

[Karlin]

I'm writing something that involves society falling into dystopia and a desperate attempt to stop the collapse.
If you haven't read A Canticle for Leibowitz, do so.

 

[Finchbearer]

I don’t want this thread to get political really, so I hope mentioning these things is ok, but I’ve read a few non-fiction books on Soviet Russia and North Korea, and I’d like to take inspiration from some of the first person account of what it is like to live in those conditions, just in a fantasy context. I like the fact that cultural and religious elements pre-communism still mattered to people living under those regimes, and they still fought to keep those important aspects of their lives, sneaking them in here and there when they thought no one was watching.

 

[JBCrowson]

At the risk of being political I'd suggest looking closer to home in North America to see how a cult can take over a previously well run country.

 

[Finchbearer]

Well with the UK being my home, I wouldn’t say North America is closer to home for me. I did read Tara Westover’s; Educated, which was very interesting. I find that sort of thing fascinating.

 

[skip.knox]

If you want to write it, write it. You can take inspiration from real world or you can make it up. Let us know how it goes!

 

[pmmg]

Coming back to this, cause I am not sure the topic has really hit the right question yet.

If a cult was to gain control and bring a dystopia, I would suspect there would be a lot of turmoil and dystopia already. People would have to be dissatisfied and apathetic about things to find hope in new answers, and let this in. So, I would see a world that was full of problems, a lot of discontent, and not so many good solutions. A dystopia is kind of by definition something without good solutions, so the decadence of a few over the hopes of the many kind of on going. Cultists that get the reigns might just be the result of many already feeling like, 'meet the new boss, same as the old boss'. A new group of people who say things, but nothing changes and things stay rotten. Does it matter that they are cultists? Probably not, really. It more matters that they don't solve anything and problems persist.

When there is a lot of unrest, things can change, and cultist types might have a voice that says, we have answers, but the world would already have to have problems.

 

[Genly]

That's right, I think. There would have to be a LOT of dissatisfaction, verging on desperation, before a society would hand over political power to a cult. Also, the cult would already need to have some political power before taking over. They would need to have lots of followers already, and if they were smart, they would set up a parallel state political structure before taking power, so that the old state would simply dissolve and the new state would be ready to take over. That is what the Nazis did, and it took them some years to establish both a large following and the architecture of the new state (Gauleiters etc).

The story of the road to power of the cult might be interesting, against the backdrop of a failing society. Also, the cult would need to have some pretty extreme policies for there to be widespread opposition to them.

Another point. The cult probably would not be viewed as a "cult" by its followers. As Huey Long once said (and he would know), if fascism ever comes to America, it will come in the form of 100% Americanism.

 

[Queshire]

We.... are all aware that the whole teenage dystopia thing was a trend awhile back, right? Hunger Games and all that lot? They provide ample proof that people are generally willing to accept the rise of the dystopian society as part of their willing suspension of disbelief.

 

[pmmg]

Was that dystopian teen thing showing governments run by cultists?

It may be that it can be sold and we will all buy it, but its not a given. And some are harder sells than the others.

 

[Finchbearer]

We.... are all aware that the whole teenage dystopia thing was a trend awhile back, right? Hunger Games and all that lot? They provide ample proof that people are generally willing to accept the rise of the dystopian society as part of their willing suspension of disbelief.

I neither read nor watched Hunger Games, but I am aware of it. What other trend driven dystopian fantasies were popular at the time? That is a good example of a dystopian fantasy, but I suppose my idea would be more like a collection of first hand accounts of what it was like living in a cult / country wide regime. That wouldn’t be as action based as Hunger Games I wouldn’t have thought.

 

[Finchbearer]

That's right, I think. There would have to be a LOT of dissatisfaction, verging on desperation, before a society would hand over political power to a cult. Also, the cult would already need to have some political power before taking over. They would need to have lots of followers already, and if they were smart, they would set up a parallel state political structure before taking power, so that the old state would simply dissolve and the new state would be ready to take over. That is what the Nazis did, and it took them some years to establish both a large following and the architecture of the new state (Gauleiters etc).

The story of the road to power of the cult might be interesting, against the backdrop of a failing society. Also, the cult would need to have some pretty extreme policies for there to be widespread opposition to them.

Another point. The cult probably would not be viewed as a "cult" by its followers. As Huey Long once said (and he would know), if fascism ever comes to America, it will come in the form of 100% Americanism.

North Korea and the USSR are perfect real life examples of what you’ve described. Maybe count in Afghanistan too.

 

[Queshire]

I neither read nor watched Hunger Games, but I am aware of it. What other trend driven dystopian fantasies were popular at the time? That is a good example of a dystopian fantasy, but I suppose my idea would be more like a collection of first hand accounts of what it was like living in a cult / country wide regime. That wouldn’t be as action based as Hunger Games I wouldn’t have thought.

Oh, jeeze, it's been awhile. Uhhhhhhhhhhh... well, there's one that's (in)famous for being fuckin' racist called 'Save the Pearls' or something like that. Otherwise, uh, there was Uglies, Divergent, Maze Runner and probably like a dozen others that I'm not familiar with.

 

[Finchbearer]

This is an excerpt from Nothing To Envy, one of the best books I’ve read hands down, and offers something far stranger than fiction:

They rarely made eye contact when they spoke to us, and I wondered if they believed what they said. What were they really thinking? Did they love their leader as much as they claimed? Did they have enough food to eat? What did they do when they came home from work? What was it like to live in the world's most repressive regime?

If I wanted answers to my questions, it was clear I wasn't going to get them inside North Korea. I had to talk to people who had left— defectors.